Monday, October 30, 2006

Pondering dubious distinctions…

Heaven to hell and back again, St. Louis is more violent than Compton!

Lawd, give me strength.

This is not news to city dwellers who listen to reports of shootings, murders and all manner of violence nightly on the news. This bitch knew St. Louis was violent.

But daaaaaaaamn…a bitch hates to hear that we are the most violent city in America whilst drinking my morning coffee.

Sigh.

Anyhoo…

A bitch has just finalized my pre-election volunteer schedule…lots of phone banking and door knocking for candidates (if this bitch calls you you’d best pick up)…and that reminded me that my ass hasn’t worked on my Election Day plan.

Lawd, where did October go?

A Bitch’s Election Day PlanGet my vote on first thing in the morningBreakfast with C-MoneyDrive first round of students to the pollsLunch followed by fret-based checking of the newsDrive second round of students to the pollsContinue frettageDrive final group of students to the pollsFeed hounds their dinner followed by walkDine at Sweetie Pie’s and enjoy smothered yumminess and political chatterCelebrate closing of polls with cocktails at Grandma’s Politician Lounge on ManchesterContinue celebration or drowning of sorrows at AMP!

St. Louis Is Most Dangerous City in U.S. (AP via WaPo):The ranking, being released Monday, came as the city was still celebrating Friday's World Series victory at the new Busch Stadium. St. Louis has been spending millions of dollars on urban renewal* even as the crime rate climbs.

*Disgusted that "millions of dollars" were spent on the new Busch Stadium, despite a public vote against the use of tax money, and prior to that "millions of dollars" of tax money on the Trans World Dome, now the Edward Jones Dome, for the Rams. Disgusted this gets called "urban renewal".

hubby and i moved to newark, nj the year it gained that distinction. his family was quite worried, but it was one of the best years of our life together and we remember it with such fondness.

we met and became friends with some of the best people in the whole world, ate some of the best food, (my mouth waters just thinking about it) and got so used to sleeping through car alarms that i couldn't sleep when we went to visit his mom out in the 'burbs.

It's interesting to know that the cities on the "list" are all Urban Areas. I still say that someone is supplying the guns and drugs, way to easily to these communities, that don't even have gun shows.

It just makes me wonder, how much is crime paying, and how many people are profitting from the crime (policemen, lawyers, prison guards, judges, etc.)

Yeah...people who are from here aren't surprised (or shouldn't be).... St. Louis has always been near the top. I see some of this stuff first hand....

As far as elections go... i've never trusted the U.S. political system...especially as it relates to voting. I don't see the U.S. as the great democracy that it claims to be. The very system itself is anti-democratic... 2 political parties to represent 300 million people? PLEASE!

For me, voting is simply contributing to the charade.... adding to the illusion. In order for me to vote I must first believe that I live in a Democracy.... and I don't believe that I do.

The U.S. voting and political system would have to fundamentally change before I would ever be confident enough in the system to vote. This means- standardization of voting methods and rules across all 50 States, AT LEAST 1 or 2 additional political parties that become significant enough to gain seats in Congress (by some sort of affirmative appointment system if necessary), all candidates operate with the same amount of money....a level playing field, no more corporate pimping....the end of the era of mega lobbyists writing legislation, effective voting rights laws that are actually ENFORCED, More Presidential debates and debates earlier in the cycle, more parties allowed into debates, no campaign ads allowed within two weeks before an election, a crackdown of voter intimidation and voter suppression, the list goes on and on.

The USA is far from being a real Democracy.

I choose to do things like blog (and tell the truth)......that's my way of voting, symbolically. But I am glad that there are others who are still voting.... perhaps something could be done to change the system.... but I don't think anything significant will happen in that regard in my lifetime.

St. Louis the most violent? Did y'all pull a Detroit and riot over the Series win?

Seriously - growing up in Detroit at the height of its unfortunately well-deserved Murder City years, I can tell you this: it ain't nothing but a thing.

I rarely growing up felt scared for my safety. Detroit was my home. I rode my bike all over the place at all hours of the day and into the night. My friends and I played on the streets. We went downtown, even when it was like Robocop. We lived, and had fun. My Irish ass has gotten in over my head exactly once in my life - when I was bashed in Cary, North Carolina. Detroit? Hell, people in Detroit understood respect. And bravery. And the likelihood everybody was heavily armed. St. Louis dangerous? Sure it is. So is Amish Country in Pennsylvania.

I think violence is a problem everywhere. I don't think there is an exact science that can seriously determine which city is more dangerous.

Even the FBI says that Morgan Quitno's rankings are misleading. Yet, the media continuously embraces the list and never questions its methodologies.

Morgan Quitno is a conservative press entity, which is capitalizing off of America's obsession with lists and rankings - no matter how questionable the methodology.

I have a hard time believing that St. Louis is more dangerous than Houston. This year I was accosted by some guys (non-black) in Houston. Luckily I stood my ground and nothing happened, but when visiting St. Louis that never happens.

Anyway, different studies yield different results. Here are stats from "real" criminal experts and statisticians.

[I know the chart link is old, but the point of posting it is to show that different entities can show different results.]

Once again, I don't think there's an exact science. Does this mean that St. Louis doesn't have a crime problem? Certainly not. But its hard for me to believe that St. Louis is more dangerous than Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York.

For the non-St. Louisans reading the blog, St. Louis City has a small area and includes few middle-class or upper-class neighborhoods, and almost all of the ghettos of the MO side of the metropolitan area. The population is skewed towards poverty compared with populations of many other cities, and since crime commission and victimhood are both much higher in very poor neighborhoods, the crime stats are also skewed.

My perception of crime is that it is there but I don't worry too much about it. I have been held up at gunpoint twice in 24 years - so? Someone in another neighborhood may reasonably worry about reaching adulthood alive.

St. Louis was the headline news for a 2 days in one week! I think it's great press for St.Louis. Yeah! I have a "thing" for this "heartland" town.

Camden is a SUBURB of Philly. Not a city. A post-industrial wasteland. Brick Township, another "town" - the "safest" - made me laugh. I suppose all the bangers do their stupid battles in Asbury Park. Well, we know they do. Asbury is also a ghost town. They must bang in Comptom. I never understood why it gets such "bad press." Compton is not really a "city" either, part of the large LaLa metropolis. It's quite suburban and nice.

All press is good press. I wonder how it'll affect real estate prices.